The Impact of Trust
Ok, let's break up into groups and work on this project in separate teams.
You're placed into a random group composed of strangers, one or two of which you may have had a How's the weather? conversation. Someone, maybe even you, take the awkward lead to break the ice and discuss the project objective with the group.
After a few moments scouring over the details, it's clear that the project cannot be satisfactorily completed by a single person: there's simply too much to do and too little time. However, the project can be conveniently split up into enough equal parts that everyone on the team can fairly contribute.
A little more discussion and the work is divided, dates are outlined, communication details are exchanged, and everyone affirms that they are acutely aware of what they need to do, when they need to have their part completed, the standard of quality the team is shooting for, and how to get in touch with everyone in case of an issue.
As everyone goes their separate ways, one or more team members usually have a lingering feeling: Can I trust my team to get their work done? or, perhaps more importantly, Can my team trust me to get my work done?
We can all relate to being in a similar situation at some point in our lives. Whether it's a school project, a group exercise at a company mandated team building event, or simply interacting with other people, there has been a moment where you've had to rely on or more persons in order to achieve something.
Developing software is a perfect example of people coming together to build great things. People with different backgrounds and skill sets are put together to solve complex problems and deliver high quality products. However, simply assembling individuals with the right skill sets isn't enough: if there is a culture of mistrust, then it will be difficult for teams to get through their storming -- learning how to work well with one another -- phase and become the productive team their on-paper talents suggest.
What exactly do I mean by trust? I believe the definition from the Oxford definition is right on point:
Trust: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, or the ability of someone or something.
Everyone has their own view on trust based on their life experience. You may implicitly trust everyone by default or you may be of the mindset that trust is earned, not given. You may fall somewhere in between.
Trust within an Organization
Organizations come in all shapes and sizes, but how they deal with trust can be just as diverse. Oftentimes, the matter of trust gets ingrained within the company culture, making it a part of every interaction. Trust is an essential foundation of working relationships.
When developing software, methodologies like Scrum, XP, et. al. are adopted with a measure of trust in mind. Best practices such as transparency, open communication, self-organizing teams, and consistent feedback/retrospectives all require a measure of trust to those directly or indirectly involved with a project. Methodologies aside, a company's culture around trust will permeate through any chosen process or methodology.
When mistrust has taken root within an organization, it can be a challenge to effectively develop high quality software. The symptoms of mistrust can be overt or subtle, but in either case are a hindrance to the employees of an organization.
Below are a few factors that involve trust and mistrust from within an organization.
1. Transparency
Transparency is being genuine in all facets of your work. In a project setting, this may be a project sponsor engaging with a product manager to let them know that the executives close to the project have been given a set of expectations about particular project parameters. Level-setting the expectations up front helps to build trust from the beginning, whether those expectations need to be reset or to relay that information on to the project teams.
A lack of transparency may find individuals either withholding information or "playing their cards close to the chest". Project teams may begin to play a guessing game trying to fill in the gaps of information, which may lead to impacts further down the line during implementation: taking shortcuts that impact the quality of a feature, unknowingly introducing design flaws that impact the usage of the product, etc.
2. Honesty
Being transparent and being honest are very similar. Teams that are honest with each other, from the top of the executive chain all the way down, have a level of trust that ensures that everyone is on the same page and are working toward common goals.
Teams that are able to have honest discussions with each other and speak up when they have an opinion or a different viewpoint have a better opportunity to produce a higher quality product.
When teams aren't honest with each, opportunities may be missed that could impact the quality, timing, or budget of a project. Open collaboration requires an environment that embraces teams be professionally honest with each other.
3. Communication
Failure to communicate may lead to mistrust due to a perceived lack of interest from the other party or that there is information willingly being withheld. In addition, poor communication -- incomplete thoughts, inconsistent methods -- may cause other issues, like a misunderstanding or a missed opportunity. Oh, well I sent you an IM that clarified my email in regards to the voicemail I left that I mentioned in the #allgifsallthetime Slack channel.
Consistent, clear communication enables effective transparency and honesty.
4. Accountability
Everyone must be accountable for the role that they play. It not only plays into the values that a person, team, or organization holds for themselves, but also influences how individuals work with each other.
Accountability should not be used as a means to find and place blame, but as a value that is practiced that ensures everyone understands and feels a strong sense of responsibility to their role, their tasks, and their teammates.
A lack of accountability creates the perception that there are little to no consequences for poor performance or individuals "not pulling their weight".
5. Deliver
Every point above would be for naught if a team does not deliver. Transparency, honesty, communication, and accountability are the tools that help teams build the trust that enables them to deliver higher quality software products. Delivering reinforces the commitment a team has to each other.
When you can look at your organization and demonstrate that the above five factors hold true, you have the beginnings of a solid foundation on which to build and grow teams that can deliver great software.
And maybe that lingering feeling of trust will be more positive for the next group assignment.